Autism Therapy: therapist

definition of therapist: Person trained to provide a certain therapy. For example, a child with autism who rarely speaks words would meet with a speech therapist.

No Factsheets to Display

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, by Matson, ML, Mahan S., and Matson JL, published in 2009, summarized Oct 5, 2010

Parent training may be one way to decrease the time and cost of therapy for a child with autism.

This review article describes methods that can be used to train parents of children with autism to act as therapists for their children. While there are many cases of parent training in autism research, there are few autism treatment plans that are designed around using parents. Research shows that parents are able to gain skills in therapies such as applied behavior analysis (ABA). The authors suggest that a lifelong treatment model of parent training may be prudent even for those children who respond well to early intensive behavioral treatments.


J Autism Dev Disord, by Gibson, JA, Grey IM, and Hastings RP, published in 2009, summarized Aug 19, 2010

Regular and high quality supervision of applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapists may improve the success of ABA intervention.

The focus of this study was on how ABA therapists feel about their work. The survey, of 81 therapists working in ABA schools, found that the therapists who were the most happy had the most support from their bosses. The therapists who received the most support from their bosses also felt that they were doing the best job with the students. The best bosses were those who showed empathy for the therapists and who had a style that rewarded the good choices of the therapists. The study was performed in Ireland, but the authors note that it did not include all ABA therapists in Ireland.


Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, by Tager-Flusberg, H., Rogers S., Cooper J., Landa, Lord C., Paul R., Rice M., and Stoel-Gammon C., published in 2009, summarized Aug 12, 2010

This article describes a new framework that can be used to define a child’s level of spoken language and to measure if therapy may be effective for children with autism.

The aim of this article is to offer measures that can be used to see whether interventions are useful in teaching language skills. The report describes the effort of a working group from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders that spent 18 months setting benchmarks to describe a child’s language level. The working group suggests that therapists move away from the term functional speech and instead use a developmental framework for language. They note that it is hard to measure the early stages of language: first words and use of communication. Their framework must still be worked on so that it includes these first types of communication.


Behavior Change, by Jurgens, A., Anderson A., and Moore DW, published in 2009, summarized Jul 8, 2010

Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) may help children with autism learn to speak and play and be more social.

The purpose of this case study was to teach communication skills to a three-year-old child with autism using PECS, and to see if PECS training led to wider behavior changes. The therapists taught PECS using highly preferred items to help the child want to learn. The study found that PECS training came with increased verbal behaviors from the child. This result agrees with other research that says that spoken words increase after PECS training. The authors also found that the child was more social and played more after PECS training.


When asked about his autism, Ezra Fields-Meyer compares it to his religion. The young man explains that he, "knows he has a good memory and likes to repeat things. As a Jew, he’s noticed similar qualities....We repeat Shabbat every week. And we sing the same songs." Ezra's dad said the journey wasn't always easy. His child went from a non-verbal 3 year old to a "son worth celebrating." Tom Fields-Meyer decided his story might be able to help other parents. He wrote Following Ezra: What One Father Learned About Gumby, Otters, Autism, and Love from His Extraordinary Son. Tom says it started when a therapist suggested that he and his wife celebrate the boy they had, rather than the one they did not. Rather than pushing his son towards, for example, playing soccer the way it's supposed to be played, he and his wife let Tom develop his own interests and passions. One passion and talent Ezra has is animation; he recently completed his first film, Alphabet House.

Read original article: Beyond Labels, Raising Autistic Son Yields Treasure


Laura Fehr is a music therapist who has opened her own practice in North Dakota to work with children with autism and other special needs. Fehr, who uses music to work on non-music skills, such as social interaction and communication, says, “Music therapy works because music is processed everywhere in the brain.” She believes that every person has music in them; “everyone knows some sort of music.” Before Fehr begins a music therapy program, she assesses a child’s social skills, motor skills, cognitive skills, and communication abilities. She then sets client-specific goals and reassesses every three months.

Read original article: Music Therapy Graduate Brings Her Services to Bismarck


Along with its rodeo-themed curriculum, the Westwind Rodeo Academy in Alberta Canada offers equine therapy for people with autism. Shellee Shaw, the academy’s director began focusing on kids with disabilities in 2009. She believes that horses and kids with autism are a natural match; there is unconditional love from the animal, full body movement for the child, and reduction of stress. Teachers and therapists who help with the horseback riding talk about the improvements they have seen in children’s confidence and communication. “It probably is the most effective thing that I’ve done with kids,” said Lanny Smith, a counselor at Cardston Elementary School.

Read original article: More than Horseplay: Rodeo School Helps Children with Special Needs


James Piccarreto, a teen with autism, takes things very literally; he wouldn’t go to a PG movie until he was 13, and he wouldn’t have a beer until he turned 21. His friends and family celebrated his 21st birthday with beer and NASCAR memorabilia (his passion). His mom explains, “One of our things has always been to find teachable moments, but also to celebrate everything. You don’t take a lot for granted.” James has learned through the years to find independence and his voice not only with help from his family but with a music therapist and an aide who works with him daily. They both suggested that as children with autism enter adulthood, there are new challenges and anxieties to face.

Read original article: 21 Means Big Things for James Piccarreto of Greece



Please comment on this autism topic.

Responding to insurance

Sep 13, 2011 by Anonymous

We have private insurance for which we pay a premium and deductible.  It covers occupational therapy, language therapy, physical therapy and psychological therapy but at a combined 75 visits for calendar year.  This is not for each therapy but rather 75 total for all together. Thus, even with illness or vacation times taken, we do not have enough alotted time slots covered to continue therapy for a full year.  Once we run out of the 75 covered slots, we must pay out of pocket.  We pay a copay of $20 per visit.  So, for example, if my child sees a language/speech therapist and the ot once per week it is $40 out of pocket until we hit the magic 75 allowed under the insurance.  Then we woud have to pay $150 for one therapy and $160 for the other per week.  The psychology/psychiatrist appointments are monthly. All of these therapies would be available more frequently and I am told by the therapists very helpful if we could do more than once a week for 1/2 a session but we cannot afford to do this.  The children on the autism spectrum benefit greatly from these therapies and it is something that should be covered under the insurance policies, just as any health or mental health issue should be.


Knowing the financial burden attached to being a caregiver for an Autistic child, we were compelled to build a free web version for users who do not have a smartphone. In our journey with our children we realized that we needed healthcare providers, educators and mentors on board when it comes to improving the quality of care a person receives. The website is ready but is in the testing phase. Here is a link to pictures of what it will look like: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=188241727857292&set=a.188241557857309.51353.146190262062439. We encourage people to go to http://bit.ly/eoHQUR to be notified when iBiomed Health Organizer & Network is released to the general public. Please add us as a resource on Healing Thresholds. Thanks again.

iBiomed is a mobile application which was recently featured in the Post and Courier newspaper, in Charleston, SC. and the Wall Street Journal.  It was built by Florence Iwegbue & Kwame Iwegbue who is also a Physician in Charleston, SC. They personally built this software in order to ease the back breaking burden on their family, after their son was diagnosed with Autism and started having unexplained seizures: "We developed the software specifically to manage our son's Autism care, but we now realize that it goes way beyond the world of Autism." They hope to spread the word about this software because they know all to well, the pressures & stress that caregivers and families of children with special needs have to endure.

iBiomed is a free native iPhone/iPad application designed to manage the health and well being of children with Special Needs or individuals with complex, chronic medical illnesses. The App is now available for a free download from the App store. They have left it free because we believe this tool would be of great benefit to many people living with complex medical conditions requiring multiple healthcare providers, medications, tests & rehabilitative therapies. "We cannot articulate why we are so driven by this effort but we believe the medical community has long awaited it. We also believe that as a family it is a calling for us because of the special skills we possess and the circumstance we have found ourselves in. Our son has taken us on an unforgettable journey." Below is a link to watch a demo of iBiomed and a link to our site and Facebook group for pictures of the App in action. They realize that not everyone has an Apple device so we will be making it available for free use online by the end of this month. People can register here to be notified upon it's release: http://bit.ly/eoHQUR.

Click Here: http://bit.ly/iin5H9 for info on how iBiomed can help Health care Providers, Therapists, Nutritionists, Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, Educational Institutions, Vendors and other Holistic Practitioners.

The iBiomed Software allows you to create an Interactive Social Network Bio. If you are a vendor, Holistic practitioner, Healthcare provider, Therapist, Blogger, or mentor, this feature allows an easy one-click access to you, your product and your service.

iBiomed's Features Include:

1. Treatment Log Book:

Keep detailed records on the go and soon online with a mobile logbook for Prescriptions, Supplements, Therapies, Diets, Allergies, and Tests.

2. Add Multiple Time Stamped Notes to each of the above treatment items.

Your Notes are easily search-able.

3. Manage the Treatment of as many people as you'd like; Just as with a portable electronic medical record.

3a. Add as many Supplements, Medications, Tests, Diets and Therapies & Alternative/Holistic Treatments as you’d like.

4. Treatment Journal:

Keep a Journal or Daily diary for each person whose treatment you'll be managing with iBiomed. The Journal entries are time stamped and easily search-able. e.g. foods, behavior logs or side effects and reactions.

5. Treatment History:

Review your treatment history of tests, supplements, diets, therapy notes, behaviors and journals. You can also edit past log entries, including test results. If the test results are numerical, you can easily differentiate between normal and abnormal values.

6. Treatment Reminder:

Treatment alerts to help you remember to administer supplements, medications tests and even Therapy sessions and medical appointments.

7. Share Treatment Information:

Share details of your treatment plan with family, health professionals, therapists or nutritionist by email. iBiomed can automatically generate an email summary of your treatment plan and treatment history by date range.

8. Supply Tracker for Rx & Supplements: Lets you know when you should reorder a prescription or Supplement.

9. Health Forum with "Smart Topic Filter" and Push notification to your mobile device: Now all your forum questions & answers can be accessed on your phone. It is also a so a great platform for parents and healthcare providers to interact.

10. Customizable Graph to track just about anything a person wants to watch closely; from symptoms to behaviors, appetite, sleep, or anything you want to track.

11. Available for online use at biomedprofile.com in January 2010. iBiomed Online Health Organizer will have all the same features of the App and much more. Go to: http://biomedprofile.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=61 to Sign up to receive an email notification when the site is ready for online use.


Ayurveda for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Jan 4, 2011 by sunethriayurved...

Hi everybody,

I am Dr.Prasad M, MD (Ay.), working with autistic kids from 2002 onwards. I went through the article mentioned. Let me share with you an unbiased information on the scope of Ayurveda, the age-old Indian system of Vedic medicine, in the treatment of ASD. This is based 100% on my personal experiences. Kindly see the following passages. Comments and criticisms are welcomed whole-heatedly. 

Scope of Ayurveda in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Trials with Ayurvedic medicines and treatments for their efficacy in ASD are going on at various centres in India and abroad.   The main advantage of ayurvedic medicine is that it has got a magazine of safe therapeutic preparations of various forms which are developed by continuous trials and rectifications over thousands of years.  There are many preparations like kwatha (decoction), churna (powder), arishta (self-fermented beverage), gudika (pill), ghrtha (medicated ghee), thyla (medicated vegetable fats) etc.  In recent times, many of the herbs used in Ayurveda are proven to have excellent detoxifying effect as well as free radical- scavenging potential.  The therapeutic preparations like kwatha are combinations of many herbs.  These combinations are originally developed on the basis of ayurvedic principles.  Till recent times these formulations were not given due consideration by the western scientists.  But now the picture has changed. More and more ayurvedic preparations are under their evaluation.  In Ayurveda, the compounds as well as single herbs are used for different purposes of health care like pacifying vitiated functional units called doshas, eliminating excessive toxic accumulations, providing targeted nutrients to tissues, tuning the mind-body coordination, sharpening the efficacy of sense-organs, and so on.  These prescriptions are based on personalised evaluation of different aspects like body constitution, doshik status, power of digestion and assimilation, status of bowel evacuation, physical strength, mental constitution, and etc which is done by experienced physicians.  Mind is an important factor in the healing of any ailment.  It is assumed that mind is like ghee which is held inside a pot called body.  If the ghee is hot the pot also gets warmed and if the pot is hot definitely the ghee also will be hot.  You cannot expect warm ghee in a cool pot and wise versa.  Similarly, food is given the supreme role in the healing process as well as in the maintenance of health.  It is a basic concept in Ayurveda that there is no use for any medicine if one stick on to pathya (wholesome) food (as it brings about health spontaneously) and there is no use for any medicine if one stick on to apathya (nasty) food (as there is no scope for functioning of the medicine).   In the context of autism, these assumptions are extremely important and seen exceptionally beneficial. 

The care of autism, as per ayurvedic principles, is based on the protocol of a three-step intervention

  1. detoxifying the body by regulating the agni
  2. Cleansing the dhatus (body tissues) by medicines and therapies
  3. Enhancing the mental abilities like comprehension, memory etc. by promoting the Agni.

Again, though the stages are generalised the execution will be personalised. 

The first stage is based on medicines almost completely.  Medicinal preparations like purgatives, specific formulations for de-worming, for enhancing the functions of the liver and pancreas, for enhancing the digestive fire (Agni), and for regulating the intestinal motility are used in this stage.  Certain preparations meant for squeezing out heavy metals from the tissues are also used.  Turmeric, garlic, curry leaves, etc are having this advantage. 

Second phase is mainly comprised of massages.  Traditional methods like abhyanga (hot-oil massages), udwarthana (dry powder massages), pindasweda of various types, thalapothichilpizhichil, etc are used here.  These manoeuvres improve the muscle tone, reduce hyperactivity, create better motor coordination, and normalize most of the obsessive repetitive movements.  Child sleeps well.  The bowels become more regular at this stage.  He/she will be more receptive to commands or suggestions.  The demand for sensory stimulation slows down considerably and the symptoms like increased sensitivity to certain sounds (hyperacusis) slowly disappear.  There will be oral medications parallel to the therapies and a few of these medications will be carried over to the next phase as well.  

Third stage is very specific and sold not be started before the proper completion of the first two.  This is an important point as there is a general tendency to mark the condition as mental retardation and to prescribe brain tonics and memory boosters to all autistic kids indiscriminately.

The major therapies in this stage are shirodhara (pouring of liquids like oils on the head), shirovasthi (holding of medicated oils on the head inside specially designed leather-rims), shiropichu (wetting the scalp with oil bandages), dhoopanam (fumigation with specific medicines) etc along with specific medications like kallyanakam kashayam, indukantham kashayam, gorochanadi gudika,balakanakapathradi kashayam, sidharthakam gudika etc.  Certain specific herbs like sahadevi, sankhapushpi, vacha, vishnukranthietc are also used.  Follow up is done with ghee preparations like mahakallyanaka, mahapaisachika, brahmighrtha, saraswathaghrtha, etc. 

Conclusion

It is seen that the classical ayurvedic treatment done systematically give promising results in kids diagnosed with ASD.  But it should be emphasised that the level of improvements is different from child to child.  Another important point is that these interventions are made in a corrective manner.   The child gets relieved of a lot of physical problems and tantrums.  But this will not make him/her a normal child.  Intensive training and special education are needed to put him on track and to catch up the peers.  This requires the dedicated involvement of parents, special educators, and skilled professional like occupational therapists.


Responding to Social Thinking

Dec 17, 2010 by Anonymous

Social Thinking by WInner is a nice concept and great for therapists who need a recipe for treating social communication skills. However, much more research must be conducted in order to determine the true benefit of this curriculum, as well as to demonstrate that it is in fact evidence-based. Further, research should be conducted by outside parties---not just those who have developed the program.



Please comment on therapist or other autism therapy topics.

  • Factsheet
  • Research
  • News
  • Comments.
  • Synonyms for therapist include: therapists
    Share |